Airbus on Track to Double Profit Margin by 2015

With More Stockholders to Please, Plane Maker Aims for 'Entrepreneurial Spirit'

By

Daniel Michaels

June 16, 2013 8:42 p.m. ET

TOULOUSE, France—Airbus is on track to more than double its profit margin by 2015 through greater efficiency and revamped management, Chief Executive Fabrice Brégier said.

Mr. Brégier, who took over as CEO last June after five years as chief operating officer, said in an interview that he has been working to shake up the way Airbus builds planes, by giving factory managers more autonomy and instilling "a more entrepreneurial...